The Lancet: Typhoon Haiyan recovery: progress and challenges “On November 8, 2013, the Philippines experienced its most devastating catastrophe in 20 years — Super Typhoon Haiyan. The typhoon, with sustained wind speeds of around 150 mph, was cataclysmic and resulted in the deaths of more than 6,200 people and the…

News outlets report on the planned establishment of the Indonesia Health Fund, aimed at helping to expand health care access in the country. Jakarta Globe: Bill Gates to Visit Jakarta for New Health Fund “Microsoft founder Bill Gates will visit Jakarta on April 5 to sign a memorandum of understanding…

Bloomberg View: The Real End of China’s One-Child Policy Adam Minter, a writer and author based in Asia “…On Thursday, a court in Guangzhou ruled that the Family Planning Commission of Guangdong Province — China’s most populous — must disclose the specifics of its own [one-child policy violation fine] data…

“In Timor-Leste, a tiny country just north of Australia, progress against maternal deaths has been slow. … USAID has been working with Timor-Leste’s Health Ministry since 2004 to help find solutions to this terrible problem. In 2011, U.S.-based NGO Health Alliance International (HAI) won a USAID Child Survival and Health…

New York Times: AIDS Patients in Andhra Pradesh Find Fear at State Hospitals The article details the case of one HIV-positive man and others living with HIV/AIDS who say they were denied care at a state hospital “in Andhra Pradesh, which has the highest [HIV] prevalence in India with 500,000…

NPR: After Ending Polio, India Turns To Stop Another Childhood Killer “…On Thursday, health officials declared India — and the entire Southeast Asia region — free of polio. … It also means that India, for the first time, has the tools and infrastructure to tackle other childhood diseases. At the…

News outlets report on the WHO’s announcement on Thursday of India’s polio-free status. Associated Press: India is polio-free after 3 years with no new case “…The World Health Organization formally declared India polio-free on Thursday, after three years with no new cases. It said the milestone means the entire Southeast…

IRIN: Curbing Myanmar’s spread of drug-resistant malaria “Efforts to halt the spread of drug-resistant malaria in Myanmar have delivered encouraging results through the private health sector, but health experts warn the [fight against the] disease cannot be won outside the public health system — and that the country is still…

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists” blog published two posts recognizing the WHO’s certification of India as polio-free. In one post, Ananda Bandyopadhyay, a senior program officer for the polio program at the foundation, writes, “In order to protect the historic progress in the battle against polio, we…

VOA Khmer: No Charges, Despite Major Corruption Allegation by Global Fund “Authorities at the [Cambodian] government’s Anti-Corruption Unit say they do not have enough evidence to charge officials from the National Malaria Center and other government agencies with corruption. The center and others are under investigation at the Global Fund,…